Behind the Brand : Stylisted

Stylisted is a women owned local business that connects customers with freelance hairstylists and makeup artists who travel to their clients for in-home appointments. We spoke with the company’s co-founder, Julia Carmona about the inspiration behind Stylisted, hair style trends, and how to weather-proof your hairstyle.

Tell us about Stylisted.

Stylisted allows women to book on-location hairstyling & makeup appointments from a network of vetted freelancers- at salon prices!
We currently operate in Chicago, NY & LA (and Washington, D.C. this summer).

How’d Stylisted get its start?

Stylisted was born from a personal pain point. Lauren & I met in 2011 as first year MBA students at Chicago Booth. As women of a particular age, we had quite a few weddings and school functions to attend and often wanted the help of a skilled professional to go beyond our normal beauty routine, but we consistently had trouble finding someone who was talented and available when and where we needed them. (Lauren is very particular about her hair & makeup and I’m perpetually late to everything so quality and convenience were key!) Coming from the beauty industry, we knew that stylists were always looking to grow their freelance business so we set out to build a solution, connecting freelance hairstylists & makeup artists to women like us.

Is on-location hair and make-up the next big thing?

We think so! When we were developing Stylisted in 2013, we got a ton of pushback that women didn’t have a need for this (note, most of this pushback came from older gentlemen). Our first hurdle was proving that this was something women would want! So much has changed since then and it’s actually becoming a fairly competitive landscape. I think we’re all accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it and beauty services are really no different!

What’s one of the most surprising places you’ve sent stylists?

A hospital room for a Mother/Newborn photo shoot. Pretty brilliant!

What is the hot hairstyle (or hair color) for summer?

Half-up half-down is making a comeback, especially the half-up bun.

Any advice for hairstyles that can handle Chicago’s unpredictable weather?

Blowouts are a crowd favorite, but when the weather isn’t on your side an Updo is a great option! Even a simple, styled ponytail or messy braid will do (if you want to keep it less formal). Anything that gets your hair out of your face and resists frizz or Windy City tangles.

And, finally which entrepreneurs do you look up to?

We love female duos that dominate like Birchbox’s Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna. We also really admire Matt Maloney (GrubHub) and Reed Hastings (Netflix). It’s hard to narrow it down!

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